People Putting Food First #104
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1. Farmworkers in Southern California Need Help
2. TESCO—Negotiate, Don’t Hesitate
3. Food Security in a Time of Low Wages and High Inflation
New at www.foodfirst.org
--Agroecological Alternative to the Green Revolution in Africa: Report on Mali Conference held Nov. 26-Dec. 2, 2007 http://www.foodfirst.org/node/1807
--Winter 2007 Backgrounder—Colombia palm oil biodiesel plantations: A "lose-lose" development strategy?
http://www.foodfirst.org/node/1808
--Winter 2007 Food First News and Views—Food Sovereignty and Agroecology: Growing Movements for Constructive Resistance including the founding of the Latin American Scientific Society for Agroecology (SOCLA), Brazil’s practitioner-activist-researcher alliance, and the National Farmer’s Union Movement in Mozambique. http://www.foodfirst.org/node/1809
1. Farmworkers in Southern California Need Help
The fires in the San Diego area have made a difficult life even more dire for many farmworkers living in camps, trailer parks and in rural and urban housing. They need food, baby supplies, water and clothing. Many farmworkers are out of work while the farmers who employ them struggle to get back on their feet. The Farmworker CARE Coalition has set up the Fire Relief Fund through Community Housing Works to accept donations for food and cash cards for the farmworker families. Send donations to: Community Housing Works, 1820 South Escondido Blvd, Ste 101, Escondido, CA 92025.
2. TESCO—Negotiate, Don’t Hesitate
In conjunction with the opening of the first TESCO “Fresh and Easy Neighborhood Market” in the United States, The Alliance for Healthy and Responsible Grocery Stores held a “No More Broken Promises” press conference outside a VIP grand opening party hosted by TESCO in Eagle Rock, California in October. The group believes that TESCO’s claim that it will give back to the community may be another empty promise from a large retailer. They want TESCO to negotiate a Community Benefits Agreement similar to that signed by the developers of the Staples Center Sports Complex in downtown Los Angeles. Councilman Danny Tabor of Inglewood sated their goal was to ensure “quality employment opportunities for residents of our communities, quality produce, and a sound community partnership to build up our communities.” Maria Elena Durazo from the LA County Federation of Labor also spoke at the press conference to say that “$200 a week is not a living wage.” TESCO plans to hire employees at $10 an hour for up to 20 hours a month.
After leading the crowd in a chant of “TESCO. Negotiate, Don’t Hesitate,” Councilman Tabor attempted to speak with representatives from TESCO, but was prevented from doing so by TESCO security.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DHhu37zzuM#GU5U2spHI_4
3. Food Security in a Time of Low Wages and High Inflation
Working people all over the US have to choose between paying the electricity bill, buying gas to get to work, or purchasing a bag of groceries. As food and fuel costs increase, more people are depending on food banks. According to the Department of Agriculture, nearly 11% of the US population is food insecure. Food costs are up around 5% this year—due in large part to higher fuel costs. And real wages continue to be depressed. As food bank demands increase, food banks all over the country are reporting a decrease in donations. Paul Ash, Executive Director of the San Francisco Food Bank, says that it has been more difficult to get donations of shelf-stable products partially because “the food industry is getting better at controlling their own inventory.” The San Francisco Food Bank has been able to get more fresh produce from northern California farms, but food banks in other parts of the country are not so lucky.
If food banks are as vulnerable to the vagaries of the market and to changes in the food industry as the people that depend on them, it’s time to talk about the root causes of hunger—stagnant wages, and health and childcare costs that are nowhere near affordable for minimum wage workers and many others.
Before the 70-cent raise in the federal minimum wage in July, the last raise was in 1997. If the minimum wage had kept up with inflation, it would be around $10 an hour instead of the current $5.85, making most living wage thresholds more on target. Unfortunately, living wage laws are not even enough to keep workers out of poverty because health care costs and fuel costs both outpace the regular rate of inflation. Health care raises at around double the rate of inflation and higher fuel costs fuel even more inflation by raising the cost of necessities, like food. Any time the costs of necessities increase, poor people are hit harder because they don’t have budget flexibility to absorb the increase. Even poverty makes people poorer. Paul Ash, Executive Director of the San Francisco Food Bank, calls it a “tax of low cash flow”. This means that because food is something that can be purchased in small quantities a little at a time, people with very little money end up paying much more per pound for their food. Middle and upper income people can buy items in bulk, but low income people who are stretching their paychecks can’t afford to do that. So what are the answers? Localized, community empowered food systems, including co-ops, guaranteed universal healthcare for all, and continued work around a living wage.
Groups working on these issues:
Local Food Systems:
http://departments.oxy.edu/uepi/cfj/index.htm
http://www.justfood.org/jf/
http://www.foodsecurity.org/
http://www.cityslickerfarms.org/
http://www.peoplesgrocery.org/
Living Wage and Universal Healthcare:
http://acorn.org/
http://www.tclivingwage.org/index.php
http://www.universallivingwage.org/
http://www.uhcan.org/
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Your tax-deductible donations keep Food First in the forefront of the fight to promote sustainable healthy food for all. Thanks for supporting Food First’s work. You can make a web donation here: https://www.thedatabank.com/dpg/1996432/ or send your check to Food First, 398 60th St., Oakland, CA 94618. Or telephone 510-654-4400.
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This edition of People Putting Food First! e-newsletter was written by Food First intern Matthew Dintenfass, volunteer writer, Vanessa Barrington, and staff member, Marilyn Borchardt. If you have stories, questions or feedback, please contact: info at foodfirst.org. To subscribe to this People Putting Food First e-newsletter go to www.foodfirst.org